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Few Delaware towns have as much to celebrate – or live up to – as Magnolia, a Kent County settlement known for a State Street sign declaring it the "Center of the Universe Around which the Earth Revolves."

On Saturday, residents of the state's last remaining circle-shaped municipality had another go at it, shutting down the town, and U.S. 113A, for the fourth annual Magnolia Heritage Day.

"I enjoy this because it gets a lot of people in the community together," said Magnolila Volunteer Fire Co.'s deputy chief, Charles Dougherty. "I don't know everybody, but I'm on the fundraising committee and a lot of people know me. On days like today, I get to shake a lot of people's hands and get to know them."

Dougherty said the fire company replaced the town as lead organization for the event recently, giving community officials time to concentrate on more-pressing municipal problems, including water system needs.

Several hundred people lined State Street for the midday parade, while others lined up for fresh ice cream or shopped tables near the firehouse for keepsakes, as bands, cheerleaders, firetrucks, farm equipment and politicians marched by.

About 225 people live inside Magnolia's boundaries, a number overtaken by the populations of suburban developments that took root in former farm fields in most directions, especially during the real estate boom of the last decade.

Traces of its history remain, from a scattering of the stately trees that gave the town its name, to a handful of historic buildings, including the 1774 Matthew Lowber House.

"It's really nice," said Leona Yeakel, who has worked at the Magnolia Restaurant in the town's center for 10 years. "The people are so nice, and it's still a small town."